This invention relates to the cooking of food articles and particularly to the charbroiling of meat, fish, and poultry.
Many people prefer the flavor of steak, for example, that is charred on the surface yet rare inside. In general, temperature, not time, determines the degree of doneness of protein foods. When the temperature of meat is raised to 130.degree.-140.degree. F., the meat changes from raw to rare, and remains rare even if kept at that temperature for an hour or more. Ideally, rare, charbroiled meat is brown or black on the outside, yet red, moist, and tender throughout the inside.
If charring is done with a heat source of insufficient intensity, the food will cook slowly, and the interior of the food will rise above 140.degree. F. before the exterior has turned dark brown or black. If steak, for example, is placed in a 400.degree. F. oven, by the time the surface has become dark brown, the interior will have become well done.
Because of limitations inherent in conventional broiling apparatus used in the home, meat broiled in the home is cooked too slowly. Fast cooking of the meat surface can be obtained in a charcoal broiler, for example, but most charcoal broiling is done outdoors because of the smoke produced and the danger of fire. Indoor charbroilers designed to minimize such problems are expensive and are usually installed only in deluxe kitchens.